


Homemade meals

by Want_to_read234



Series: My First Whumptober (2020) [25]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Appendicitis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:28:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27268018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Want_to_read234/pseuds/Want_to_read234
Summary: Tony is sick. He knows he should have asked for help, but he doesn't think about asking for help until its almost too late.Day 29: Emergency Room / Reluctant Bedrest
Series: My First Whumptober (2020) [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948717
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Homemade meals

**Author's Note:**

> Hi,
> 
> So I have no medical knowledge. I originally thought appendicitis took days to start but I think it actually only takes a couple hours.... So just ignore that part and pretend! Can't believe we are almost at the end of Whumptober!
> 
> Also thank you for everyone who has been following along so far and leaving kudos/comments. I really appreciate it! And its making me want to become a better commenter myself for when I'm reading fics.
> 
> Anyway, Enjoy!

Tony Stark was a genius. That wasn’t just his ego talking.

He had been tested from a young age, and he was a visionary for his time. He graduated MIT at just 19 and he has a doctorate. He knew a lot, and at this point in his life, he doubted there was anything that he wouldn’t be able to learn overnight if he put his mind to it.

Unfortunately, one of the things he never bothered to learn much about before, were the ‘squishy’ sciences. He wasn’t a _Doctor_ doctor. Not like Helen or Bruce. He hadn’t been a people person growing up, not that Howard would have even entertained the idea of him doing anything other than taking over SI anyway, but it meant he never had much interest in learning to be a medical doctor.

He was also very rarely sick. Or at least sick enough to count it as sick. He could work straight through most illnesses. Chugging coffee, or tea depending on what his body could cope with, until he returned to a relatively ok state.

So, on the rare occasions like this when he got actually sick, he didn’t know what to do.

Personally, he was going to blame Steve.

Steve had gotten into a new cooking phase recently, after watching some British cooking show on Netflix with Peter. The man had decided that the Avengers should start having more homecooked meals, rather than relying on takeout as much. So he had sat the team down earlier that week for a homemade pot roast. It actually wasn’t as bad as he had been expecting. But not even 24 hours after that meal, Tony had found himself in the bathroom emptying his guts into the toilet.

He hasn’t been able to keep anything down since.

Now Tony’s not an idiot. He is all too aware that the going almost 3 days with no nutrition is bad. He hasn’t been able to eat anything, barely managing to move from the bathroom floor the majority of the time. His skin feels like its on fire, and his stomach is in agony. He’s no stranger to pain. He had been held in a cave and tortured for 3 months. Not even mentioning all the fights he’s been in as Iron Man since then. But he can’t help himself from curling up in the corner of the bathroom trying to ease his suffering.

FRIDAY has been trying to convince him to contact Bruce or Cho for the last 2 days. So far, he has managed to stop her tattling. That feat has been made easier by the fact Pepper is away on business, but he isn’t sure how long he can last for without someone else finding out.

Another wave of nausea rolls over him, and he dry heaves into the toilet. He hasn’t brought anything up other than bile and the occasional sip of water since the first day. Wiping at his mouth with a shaky hand, he falls back to rest against the wall. Curling protectively around his stomach again.

“Boss, would you like me to contact Dr Cho to prepare the medbay for your arrival?” his AI questioned, sounding almost worried.

Closing his eyes, he groaned. He was pretty sure if he opened his mouth to respond, he would end up gagging again. But if he didn’t respond then FRIDAY would rat him out and medical would be here in minutes. He didn’t need people witnessing the great Iron Man being floored by a stomach bug.

Although even he had to admit it was getting bad. Coming to a compromise with himself, he mumbled a response, knowing FRIDAY would pick it up.

“Don’t FRI. If I’m still this bad in an hour you can contact them, but if there is any improvement then we are leaving it.”

“Yes Boss.”

Groaning, he leant forward to rest his head on the toilet bowl. Not the most sanitary, but he was past worrying about that. He lay there for 10 or so minutes before the pain that had been encompassing his entire stomach, shifted to a single point in his lower right abdomen. The main multiplying tenfold.

Gripping the area, he cried out when even his gentle touch intensified the pain.

Breathing through it, he heard FRIDAY informing him Bruce was on his way. Given he didn’t even have the energy to roll his eyes, he had to admit it was probably for the best.

“Tony?” Bruce was knocking on his door.

Inhaling to call out his response, Tony leant forward to dry heave into the toilet again. Before he finished, Bruce was by his side rubbing his back.

“Jesus, Tony you are roasting. How long have you been like this?” Bruce’s hand came to rest on his forehead, as he leant back away from the toilet. Moaning as the movement caused pain to flare in his abdomen.

“A while,” he managed to grit out through clenched teeth.

“What’s hurting? Is it your stomach?”

Squeezing his eyes shut, he gestured roughly to his lower right abdomen. “It only moved there about 5 or so minutes ago,” he panted.

Bruce’s eyes flashed with worry, before he shifted into his professional persona. “Okay, we need to get you in for some emergency surgery. You should have told us earlier. FRIDAY tell Helen to prep for an emergency appendectomy and get Steve up here now.”

His friends hand was resting on his shoulder, squeezing gently as they waited for Steve’s arrival. Quietly murmuring words of encouragement.

When Steve came barrelling into the bathroom, Bruce directed him to lift Tony and carry him to the medbay. As soon as Steve lifted Tony, he hissed in pain. Even the smallest of movements were causing pain to ripple across his body.

As Steve started to walk, Tony closed his eyes breathing deeply through the pain.

Distracted as he was by the pain, he was surprised when he blinked at his surroundings to realise Steve was laying him down on a bed in the medbays emergency room.

“Wha’?” he groggily asked, as Helen approached surrounded by doctors.

“Just relax Tony. It looks like you’ve got appendicitis so we are going to have to remove your appendix, we can’t risk waiting since you hid it from us,” she shot him a disapproving glare, “you could end up getting a deadly infection if it bursts before we remove it,” a sharp prick in his arm brought his gaze to a needle Helen was inserting, “We’ll take you in just now. So just count backwards from 10 for me, okay?”

Feeling his eyelids growing heavy, he blinked hazily at the doctor as he started his countdown. “10… 9… 8… “

xXxXxXx

He awoke slowly.

His mind waking before his body would let him surface.

Peeling his eyes open, he glanced around the hospital room. The room was empty. Pepper’s heels were lying abandoned next to the chair in the corner, signalling that she had been here at some point.

Shifting to a sitting position, he gasped at a tight pulling sensation in his abdomen. Using a shaky hand, he pulled back the hospital gown to reveal a fresh white bandage. Going from the tight feeling, he was willing to bet there were stitches under it.

Unable to find a clock, he had no idea how long he had been out for.

Pulling the IV out of his arm, he shuffled to the edge of the bed. Lifting a leg, he managed to swing one out of the bed when the door swung open revealing a tired looking Bruce.

“You weren’t trying to escape, were you?”

“Wha’? Me? No…” he spluttered. The drugs they had him on were obviously messing with his brain function. He should be able to form a more cohesive thought.

“Sure, you weren’t. Well, either way. You had surgery less than 3 hours ago, so you are on bedrest till tomorrow afternoon minimum,” at Tony’s indignant splutter, Bruce raised his hand telling him to be quiet. “Besides Pepper will be back any minute and if you aren’t in bed, I’m not going to protect you.”

Glaring at his friend, he huffed a sigh. Staring at the ceiling he gave a reluctant nod. Shuffling back onto the centre of the bed, he held his arm out for Bruce to reinsert the IV. Wincing slightly at the sharp scratch of the needle.

Resettling himself against his pillows, he felt Bruce smirking at him.

“Oh shut it, Brucie-Bear,” he huffed in feigned annoyance.

Letting out a laugh, Bruce raised a hand to cover his mouth. “Sorry, just didn’t realise all these years when we have been begging you to stay in bed, all we needed to do was ask Pepper to get you to stay put.”

Glaring at his friend, he crossed his arms in a huff. Grumbling under his breath, he waved Bruce off as the man continued chuckling.

“Don’t pretend that you’re not scared of Pepper as well! There is a reason I made her CEO,” he smirked.

Bruce’s laughter slowly died down as he sat down in one of the armchairs. Pulling out a book to read through.

Leaning back in the bed, Tony closed his eyes. If he was going to be stuck in a bed anyway, catching up on some missed sleep wouldn’t do him any harm.

He _was_ exhausted after all.


End file.
